Hassan Fathy Baker and Bawa Towards a Sustainable Vernacularism

First sessions of the Webinar series on “Rethinking Vernacular Architecture: Documentation & Lessons” hosted by ICOMOS India National Scientific Committee Vernacular Architecture. The first session is on “Hassan Fathy, Laurie Baker, Geoffrey Bawa & Beyond; Towards a Sustainable Vernacularism” by Dr. Benny Kuriakose.
The relevance of vernacular architecture has increased many times due to climate change and global warming. Fathy, Baker, and Bawa rediscovered some of the forgotten traditions and used them at a time when sustainability was not thought about. The terms used during those days were rural architecture, appropriate architecture, cost-effective architecture, tropical modernism, etc., but had a common thread of vernacular architecture elements in their buildings. They criticized modernism of the international style through their works. All three of them were able to influence a generation of architects in their own regions, but in the present context, the importance of the works of these great architects have increased. Dr. Benny Kuriakose is looking into the works of these three prominent architects of the last century from the perspective of Sustainable Vernacularism.